6 noteworthy in-house career moves

Twitter is gearing up for its potential initial public offering next year, and it will do so with a new head of the legal team. Alexander Macgillivray is stepping down from the position to pursue other opportunities, and Vijaya Gadde will step up to take his place as Twitter’s new GC. Gadde joined Twitter as legal director in 2011 and previously worked for almost 10 years at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. has announced that Marcia Backus will become the company’s vice president and general counsel starting on Oct. 1. Ms. Backus is currently a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston, where she heads the firm’s Energy Transactions/Projects Practice group. Occidental says she was named 2012 Lawyer of the Year in mergers and acquisitions by The Best Lawyers in America.

After just over a year at the top legal position with PNC Financial Services Group Inc., the largest bank in Pittsburgh, Pa., Robert Hoyt will move to British bank Barclays as group general counsel starting in October. Hoyt originally moved to PNC in 2009 after serving as general counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. PNC has named Kieran Fallon as acting general counsel in Hoyt’s stead.

Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton has named Nancy Laben as the company’s newest general counsel and executive vice president. Laben comes to Booz Allen from engineering and design company AECOM Industries, where she served as the company’s general counsel. She has also served in the law departments at Accenture and IBM during her career.

For years, Frank Ceglar has been the face of Farmers Insurance, most recently serving as GC after a 36-year career with the company. But with Ceglar’s retirement comes change, and Steven Weinstein has been named Farmers’ next general counsel. Weinstein comes to Farmers from the private practice firm Barger & Wolen, where he formerly served as chairman.

Other In-House Career Moves

Valerie Caproni, former general counsel for the FBI from 2003 through 2011, is now moving to another top legal government job. The Senate approved Caproni for appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Sept. 8 by a vote of 73-24, with three senators not voting. President Obama originally appointed Caproni for the position in November 2012.